Kathi Appelt was born in Fayetteville, North Carolina, grew up in Houston, Texas, and graduated from Texas A&M University.
Appelt is the author of more than thirty books. She has won numerous awards for her writing, among them the PEN USA award. Her first novel, The Underneath, was a National Book Award finalist and was awarded the Newbery Honor in 2008.
Appelt teaches in the MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults program at Vermont College of Fine Arts. She and her husband live in College Station, Texas. They have two grown sons.